I press the touch screen for the video call to connect. Marabella’s tear-filled face appears on the screen, and she seems to still be in her father’s car. Kaif snatches the phone from me, his hands stroke the screen and cut off the picture. I take it from him, and he growls, reaching for it, but I pull it away.
“You can’t touch the screen, it will hang up,” I tell him as I offer the phone back to him slowly. He snatches the phone again, huffing as I collapse on the floor at his feet, completely spent.
“No touching screen,” Kaif mutters, nodding his head in understanding. “Where did she go?” Kaif suddenly booms, and I roll my eyes.
Ugh, god sometimes he acts like a toddler, I swear. Lucas hesitantly steps into the room, hands up in surrender as he moves against the wall. The movement doesn’t go unnoticed by the eight-foot monster, who is still staring at the phone screen.
“I can fix it,” Lucas says while holding his shaky hand out for the phone. My heart beats faster as Kaif continues to stare at him for a few tense seconds unblinkingly.
Please don’t hurt him.
“Hello, are you there?” Marabella calls out, and Kaif looks down, his attention once again back on the screen. This is the first time I have seen Kaif remain so still. Usually, all I get are claws and teeth when he comes forward. Never words. He almost seems rational, kinda.
“You fix,” he tells Lucas, who nods, reaching out and taking the phone from Kaif’s grip. He fiddles with the phone, his hands still shaking slightly. The phone has to have gone back to the video call because Marabella’s voice draws Kaif’s attention once again.
“Lucas, where are Jonah and Kyan?” Marabella asks. I can tell she is trying to remain calm, but I can hear the uneasiness in her voice. There’s more than the unease that laces her words. There is also fear and desperation, and I suppose it might be better if the bigfoot over here wouldn’t notice it.
“Right here, but um, Kyan is, um, Kyan isn’t in control,” Lucas stutters out as Kaif growls at him, reaching for the phone.
Does the old guy have a death wish? I mean, I would say so, since he barged in here with a bloody baseball bat earlier. Who tries to take on a grown Lycan with a fucking baseball bat? I mean, be serious, it’s ridiculous. And now, if a few extra years to live are anywhere on his future interest list, he should let Marabella handle Kaif.
“Let him hold it; you will cut the phone out again,” I tell Kaif.
He frowns deeply, but takes a moment to consider my warning. As he realizes it is either that, or he won’t get to see Marabella, Kaif passes the phone out to Lucas, who holds it and turns the device to face Kaif. The giant flea factory leans down and squints at the screen.
Even from here, I see Marabella’s startled expression. She must have been expecting Kyan’s appearance, with Kaif in control. By the look on her face, I know she wasn’t expecting to come face-to-face with his Lycan form. Marabella gasps and her eyes dart to the side.
I hear Ezra’s voice in the background. “What the fuck is that?”
“I think it’s Kaif,” Marabella whispers. She sounds so terrified. All I can think of is how much I want to hold her and ensure she’s safe. Then I hear Ezra swear in the background.
“You come here. Here now. You are mine, not Jonah’s,” Kaif tells her. Silence follows, and I feel his anger rise again. “Here now, you come to me,” Kaif growls at her menacingly. I glance at the screen to see her mouth open and close as she looks away for a second. I suppose to seek her father’s support.
“But you… you are?” Mara doesn’t finish, and I watch her on the screen as she simply stares at Kaif. He stands upright, and she gasps again. Lucas’s hand, which holds the phone, shakes, and Kaif’s chest takes up the image of him on the screen.
“How do we get her here? You come when Kyan rings you this way,” Kaif says, looking down at me, still sitting next to his feet.
“I live down the road from you, Kaif. Marabella went home. She isn’t in the city,” I explain as I struggle to sound as casual as ever. I don’t want her to worry about me.
I can hear Marabella whispering with her father. Her face turned away from the screen. “Jonah, are you ok?” she asks again. I wish she would stop asking, as it only aggravates him even further.
“I’m fine, Mar…” Kaif’s growl cuts me off.
He reaches for the phone, and Lucas jumps, pulling it away from him and pressing further into the wall. “Your claws Kaif, you can’t hold the phone. You need to shift back,” he tries to reason with the brainless bigfoot.
“No, Kyan can’t, he won’t. He fucks things up again. Me won’t let him, you is mine!” he snarls.
Well, isn’t this interesting? Now, I understand why Kyan kept insisting Kaif won’t let him reject Marabella. I do get some of his reasoning. I understand what my best friend fears and is trying to hide from, but the picture before me finally connects some of the missing dots. Kaif is desperate. He won’t give up and wants her in any way he can have her, dead or alive.
“Yes, yes, I am yours, Kaif, but you can’t stay like that. You will hurt Jonah,” Marabella says in a calm and steady tone, and I see her look away from the screen for a second before she shrugs.
“He touches you, he deserves pain, you is mine, he put his peasant lips on you!” Kaif tells her. I roll my eyes at him. Peasant lips? Seriously? Well, sorry mister furry ass royalty, these peasant lips got the taste of that woman before your royal highness could pull his head out of that furry ass.
“He is your friend,” Mara tries to reason gently, and Kaif huffs, baring his teeth at me.
Mara shakes her head, and I am pretty sure she will tell him anything right now to ensure I stay alive.
“You let him!” Kaif roars. I don’t realize how it happens. He moves too quickly for his stupidly massive size as he rips me up off the floor. Marabella shrieks as Kaif grips my throat. “You come here, or I hurt him, make you watch!” Kaif snarls out the threat. The furry bastard sure knows where to aim to get his fucking way.